8 Fantastic Western Movies Directed By Their Stars

Since the dawn of Hollywood, the Western genre has given audiences some of the best films of all time, from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly to Quentin Tarantino’s epic Django Unchained. More than most genres, it’s common for Western stars to be more hands-on with their films, even going so far as to take on the role of director. In the case of men like Clint Eastwood and Kevin Costner, this has given them some of their all-time greatest, career-defining projects.

Western films can be anything from an exploration of philosophy and morality to period dramas that take on an epic scale, spanning years as a story is told across the stunning American frontier. The genre may not be the powerhouse it once was, but it continues to bring fans some of the best stories on film. Thanks to the realism and visuals audiences expect, these can be some of the most ambitious and costly productions in Hollywood, making the work of actor-directors all the more impressive.

8 Horizon: An American Saga Is Ambition Manifest

Directed By Kevin Costner

Since his role as Jake in Silverado, Kevin Costner has established himself as a modern Western icon. In Horizon: An American Saga, his love for the genre was channeled into one of the most epic Westerns ever made, certainly of the 21st century. Centered around the creation of a small town in Texas during the 1860s, the story covers a range of characters, primarily Costner in the role of a horse trader, Hayes Ellison, as he protects a woman and baby.

Perhaps the most ambitious Western made since How the West Was Won, Horizon can best be described as a biopic of the Old West itself, using the town as a centerpiece for a wider story. Here, Costner subtly remakes several classic Westerns into a single story, borrowing the stories of films like The Searchers and The Stalking Moon to great effect. Telling the story of Western expansion from the perspectives of settlers, Native Americans, soldiers, and prospectors, the film is a brilliant work of art, and Costner deserves credit for going all in on the project in a way few directors ever have.

7 The Alamo Makes John Wayne A Historical Figure

Directed By John Wayne

The Alamo casts John Wayne in the role of American icon Davy Crockett amid Santa Anna’s crackdown on the Texan rebellion against Mexico. As General Sam Houston tries to prepare his men for battle, Crockett is tasked with aiding Lt. Colonel William Travis in the defense of The Alamo from Mexican forces. With Houston’s forces too far away to help, the men begin to accept that their fate is likely sealed and mount a valiant last stand.

The only film John Wayne ever directed by himself, The Alamo became a Western icon thanks to its depiction of the true story behind the defense of the titular fort. A classic underdog story, the film focuses on the interplay between its characters as the threat of Santa Anna looms over them. Due to playing Crockett, the film is also a rarity in Wayne’s career for ending with the death of his character, and proved him a solid director when in his element.

6 Pale Rider Is A Biblical Revenge Epic

Directed By Clint Eastwood

Pale Rider begins when a young girl, Megan, prays to God to save her small mining community from the violence of local land baron, Coy LaHood. Almost immediately after, a nameless preacher arrives atop a pale horse and steps in to aid the town, inspiring them to continue their work and fighting off LaHood’s men. Realizing the Preacher is standing between him and the land, LaHood hires a band of corrupt marshals to fight the hero.

Pale Rider directly remakes the 1953 classic Shane into a supernatural revenge story, and arguably surpasses Alan Ladd’s film in its quality. Exploring themes of Biblical justice, faith, family, and revenge, the film is a must-see part of Eastwood’s career, matching his habit of turning classic stories into darker epics. The only Western the star made in the ’80s, it’s a masterclass in revisionism and genre deconstruction all at once.

5 High Plains Drifter Is A Bleak Revenge Thriller

Directed By Clint Eastwood

High Plains Drifter begins when a nameless drifter rides into the desert town of Lago, where he guns down a trio of gunfighters hired to protect the town. In their desperation, the town hires the Stranger, offering him anything he wants instead of traditional payment. From the jump, he sets about humiliating the residents, from assaults to taking advantage of their hospitality. As he sleeps, he dreams of the murder of the town’s old marshal, Jim Duncan, at the hands of the gang the town fears returning.

A gritty, supernatural homage to High Noon, High Plains Drifter is perhaps the most morally ambiguous revenge Western ever made. Through his direction, Eastwood brilliantly portrays Lago as a town practically existing in purgatory, with the residents condemned for their own cowardice. For people who love a dark, creepy Western, there are few films as good a choice as this, and Eastwood sells his role as a violent spirit of vengeance.

4 The Outlaw Josey Wales Is A Morally Grey Antihero Saga

Directed By Clint Eastwood

Set during the Civil War, The Outlaw Josey Wales begins when a Mississippi farmer, Josey, finds his entire family murdered at the hands of Union Redleg militia. Swearing vengeance, he joins a band of Confederate guerrilla fighters, waging his own war against the Union. However, as the war comes to a close, his men are forced to surrender, only to be gunned down where they stand. Realizing his chances of survival are dwindling, Josey heads to Mexico, befriending a group of fellow outcasts along the way.

A classic revisionist piece, The Outlaw Josey Wales is a morally complex exploration of the American West, playing into the time-honored trope of the Confederate antihero brilliantly. In the eyes of many, the story overcomes its historical revisionism through its underlying message, having its Southern hero befriend a diverse band of companions who help him stay alive. Featuring a non-stop list of Eastwood’s best quotes and most exciting action sequences, it was his most ambitious and impressive work as director of the 1970s.

3 Dances With Wolves Is A Truly Epic Western

Directed By Kevin Costner

Dances With Wolves tells the story of Union Army Lieutenant John J. Dunbar, as, fearing he’ll lose his leg, he performs a suicidal charge amid battle. Allowing his side to win the day, he’s rewarded with his choice of posting and chooses to be assigned to a Western frontier post. He’s sent to Fort Sedgwick, an abandoned outpost that Dunbar soon sets about rebuilding. While living in solitude, he befriends the local Sioux tribe and earns the name Dances With Wolves for his connection with a wolf, Two Socks. When Union reinforcements finally arrive, they disrupt Dunbar’s harmony with the land and its people, leaving him torn between his two lives.

An adaptation of the novel of the same name by Michael Blake, Dances With Wolves is one of Hollywood’s last true epic Westerns, and Kevin Costner did a fantastic job of directing it. In the decades since its release, it’s become one of the most copied ideas in cinema, serving as the basis for modern classics like The Last Samurai and Avatar. As with so many films, the original remains king, and it’s hard to imagine anyone but Costner, near the height of his career, making it the icon that it is.

2 Open Range Is The Ultimate Cowboy Movie

Directed By Kevin Costner

Open Range focuses on a small group of cattlemen on a drive West, where they enter the small town of Harmonville. Unknown to them, the town is ruled by a brutal cattle baron, Baxter, who resents them for their use of free-grazing. After warning them off, he sends men to attack them, leaving one dead and another gravely wounded. Desperate for help, the two leaders of the group, Boss Spearman and Charley Waite, return to town looking for a doctor. As things take a turn for the worse, the cattlemen plan to avenge their friends.

Kevin Costner’s success behind the camera has been a mixed bag, with Dances With Wolves being a stunning success while The Postman failed. In Open Range, the director turned in one of his most forgotten and underrated successes, as well as a film that, despite its excesses, has been praised as one of the most accurate cowboy films ever made. A love letter to romantic Western novels, the film offers a slower pacing than the likes of Tombstone, instead offering a warmer look at the West — albeit one that still boasts fantastic action sequences.

1 Unforgiven Is The Crown Jewel In Eastwood's Career

Directed By Clint Eastwood

Unforgiven stars Clint Eastwood in the role of William Munny, a retired gunfighter who has murdered men, women, and children. A widower living with his children and struggling to make ends meet, he was reformed by his late wife, Claudia, renouncing violence after marriage. However, struggling to make ends meet for his family, he reluctantly accepts a bounty to find two cowboys wanted for assaulting a prostitute in the town of Big Whiskey. When Munny rides into town, he meets the local sheriff, a brutal lawman named Little Bill, who seeks peace above justice and makes things personal with the bounty hunter.

As Eastwood put it, Unforgiven reflected his own feelings towards the Western at the time of making it, using the film to deconstruct the very gunslinger mythology that made him an icon. As his last traditional Western movie, it stands out as the perfect swan song for a man so permanently tied to the genre, conveying themes of regret, escaping one’s own nature, and Old West realism. Hailed by many as Eastwood’s best-directed movie, as well as the film that won him an Oscar, Unforgiven is as perfect a revisionist Western as it gets.